Sighting apparatus for guns.



A PATBNTED MAY 26, 1903. 0. P. E. SCHNEIDER &J. B. G. GANET.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR. GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

' m: nunmsfirrzns co. mmaumc" WASHINGTON, a. c.

UNITED STATES fPa'tented il/Iay as, 1903;

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES PBOSPER EII GENE SCHNEIDER, OF LE CR-EUSOT, AND JEAN BAPTISTE GUSTAVE-ADOLPHE CANET, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

SIGHIIINGYAPPARATUS FOR GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 728,990, dated May 26, 1903.

Application filed January 8, 1902. Serial No. 88,876. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern/L Be it known that we,-CHARLEs PROSPER EUGENE SCHNEIDEB,lI'Ol1ID2tSt I, of Le Creu: sot, Sadue-et-Loire, and JEAN BAPTISTE GUS- TAVE ADOLPHE CANET, engineer, of 42 Rue dAnjou, Paris, in the Republic of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Sighting Apparatus for Guns, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification. J

This invention relates to sighting apparatus for guns.

It is well known that in the firing of ordnance it is necessary to take into account the drift or deviation'of the projectile. In practice the correction for the drift iseffected by placing the vertical plane which passes through the axis of the gun at a suitable angle, with the line of sight directed toward the target. This angle, which is called the drift or deviation, has a definite value for every range of the gun.

Sighting apparatus as heretofore constructed comprises, chiefly, a foresight and a rear sight mounted upon a firm support connected with the gun, and the drift or deviation is obtained by a displacement of the sight-notch upon the special plate, sometimes called the drift or deviation leaf. These arrange ments, although satisfactory when the gun-- carriage is mounted on firm ground, present serious inconveniences in connection with lated for a horizontal platform ceases to be correct when the platform is inclined, for the reason that the vertical plane through the axis of the gun ceases to form the same angle with the vertical plane passing through the line of sight. The angle varies for every inclinaelevation is increased.

tion and increases for the same inclination with the angle of firing. If, therefore, the sight is'correctly adjusted fora certain drift or deviation whenthe ships bridge is horizontal and it is desired to discharge the gun after the ships oscillation, (whereby the axis of the trunnions has become inclined to the horizontal,) it is no longer sufficient to effect the laying of the gun in order to return the sight-line in the direction of the target. It will be necessary to correct the drift or deviation which at the moment of firin has a very different value. If this correcti is not made, the result will be an rrorin dire tion, which is all the greater as the angle of -This invention relates to a compensating device whereby the aforesaid correction is always automatically effected. Said device comprises in principle a special support for the sighting apparatus which constitutes a particular mode ofsuspension for the sight relatively to the gun, the efiect of which is that notwithstanding the pitching of the ship the angle formed by the vertical planes passing through the sight and the axis of the gun is kept constant. It will be readily understood that with 'a device fulfilling these conditionsthat is to say, maintaining a constant angle between the plane of firing (vertical plane through the axis of the gun) and the vertical planeof the line of sightit suffices at all times for correct firing to lay the guuand return the lineof sight'towardthe target. By these means the variations in the drift or deviation are obviated, or, in other words, the efiects produced on the deviation by the oscillations of the ship are automatically compensated.

- In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, wewill describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the sighting apparatus withits aforesaid specialsupport. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line A B of Fig. 1, showing a detail. Fig.

4 is a sectional plan on the line CD of Fig. Fig. 5 is a plan of the apparatus. Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams of the apparatus shown in elevation and in plan, respectively.

Referring to the last two figures, the two members through which passes the sight-line of the sighting apparatus-viz. the fore sight b and the rear sight 0, with its drift or deviation leaf sare mounted upon an arm or platform 79, adapted to oscillate about an axis h, which is kept parallel with the axis of the gun, the sight Z) being fixed with reference to the platform 70, while the sight 7 is movable thereon. The arm 70 is connected to a weight 19, which oscillateswith said arm around the axis h, whereby the sight-line r b is constantly maintained in the same position relatively to the axis h regardless of the oscillations of the apparatus as a whole. The result obtained by this mode of construction is that the vertical plane through the sight-line r 1) forms a constant angle 0: with the vertical plane through the pivot or axis of oscillation h of the sightline, and as the said axis It remains parallel to the axis of the gun it follows that the angle formed by the vertical plane through the axis of the gun and the vertical plane through the sight-line rb remain constant. In other words, the drift or deviation is not altered by reason of the inclinations of the axial line of the gun-trunnions. If by reason of the oscillations of the ship the position of the gun becomes displaced, so that the line of sight 7' b no longer passes through the target, it will only be necessary in order to place the gun in the proper firing position to effect lateral adjustment of the gun until the line r?) again passes through the target.

' Referring now to Figs. 1 to 5, the apparatus therein illustrated comprises a support a, which may be fixed either upon the platform carrying the gun or upon aseparate platform which remains in the same relative position to the gun and is subjected to the same oscillations. At the front of the support a, in the sides or cheeks thereof, are mounted two trunnions d 01, arranged with their axial line parallel to the axial line of the gun-trunnions and which serve as pivots for a frame or cradle c, which supports the axis h, around which the line of sight turns. This axis turns about the axis of the trunnions d and is perpendicular thereto. The sighting apparatus proper viz., the fore sight I) and the drift or deviation leaf swith the sighting notch 'r, is mounted on the platform k, connected with a sleeve 1'. This sleeve is movable around the axis h and carries at its lower part the weightblock 19, designed to maintain the rear and fore sights and the sight-line r b in a vertical plane,not\vithstanding the inclinations which the oscillations of the ship impart to the support a. The platform 79 is connected with the weight-block p at the front end by two lugs Z, hinged to the arms m of the said weightblock and at the rear by two toothed sectors n, adapted to slide in guide-grooves q, formed in the block or Weight. In a sleeve carried by the weight-block 29 turns a spindle provided with 'a hand-wheel 0 at one end and with'a worm y at the other end. The worm. operates a worm-wheel to, Fig. 3, mounted on a spindle 1, carried by the weight-blockp, and fast on said spindle are the gear-wheels g, which mesh with the sectors m. The frame 0 carries laterally at the rear a toothed sector 6, which enables an inclination to be imparted thereto equal to the angle of firing1l. e., permits the axis h to be placed parallel to the axis of the gun. The sectore'is for this purpose in gear with a toothed wheel g, mounted on a spindle 2, carried by the support a. On the outer end of the spindle 2 is mounted a worm-wheel in gear with a worm operated by a hand-wheel f. The spindle of the handwheelfis conveniently carried by a support 3, rigidly connected with the main support a.

The rear sight 1" is movably mounted upon the drift or deviation leaf sand is fixed to the extremity of a scale t, which is capable of angular displacement horizontally around a support of the fore sight b. Upon the scale 6 is a traveler it, which can be moved into any required position thereon, said traveler being fitted with a small pivoted scale e, that is adapted to be placed parallel with the direction of movement of the enemys ship. A fixed scale m is also provided.

From this foregoing description it will b easy to understand the operation of the apparatus, which is as follows: The actuation of the hand-wheel 0, the worm-gearing y w, and toothed Wheels q causes the sectorsn to slide in the grooves of the weight-block p, and thus move the platform 70. The lugs Z of the said platform pivot around axes 4, and in this manner the rear sight can be displaced so as to direct the line of sight 1" b toward the target, the drift or deviation having been previously adjusted. Then by means of the hand-wheelf, gear-wheel g, and sector e the frame 0 is moved (either up or down, as required) until the axis his exactly parallel to the axis of the gun, the latter being thereby adjusted to the required angle relatively to the line of sight, as will be understood. If by the movement of the ship the axial line of the gun-trunnions takes up a position at an inclination to the horizontal, the axial line of the trunnions d will also assume the same inclination, the axis h, carried by the frame 0 integral with the sector 6, remaining parallel with the axis of the gun; but the sleeve i turns through the action of the weight-blockp and the hinge-joint ml the platform It, and the sectors n follow the same movement. The result is that the angular deviation between the vertical plane passing through the line of sight 1' b and the vertical plane passing through the axis h (parallel to the vertical plane through the axis of the gun) remains unchanged.

It need hardly be stated that the aforesaid apparatus is mounted upon the carriage or the platform of the gun in such a manner that the frame a is connected with the mechanism for laying the gun, so that the line of sight 4" b is compelled to follow exactly every lateral displacement imparted to-the gun by means of such mechanism. Again, the mechanism f g e, which actuates the frame 0 to render it parallel to the axis of the gun, may be connected with the elevating-gear of the gun by suitable mechanism in order that by a single operation the gun may be adjusted to the angle for firing and also impart to the axis h the same inclination.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a sighting apparatus for guns, asighting instrumentality, and an element adjustable to correspond with the range adj ustments of the gun, said instrumentality and element automatically oscillating one about the other by the action of gravity.

2. In asighting apparatus for guns, an element pivoted to turn in a vertical plane, whereby it may be adjusted at an angle of inclination corresponding to that of the'gun, and an element for giving the line of sight, one of said elements automatically oscillating about the other by the action of gravity.

3. In a sightingapparatus forguns, a sighting instrumentality, an element adjustable to correspond with the range adjustments of the gun, and gravity-actuated means oscillating said instrumentality around said ele- 5. In a sighting apparatus for guns, a fore sight, a rear sight adjustable laterally with reference to said fore sight, a support for said rear sight and upon which it is adjustable, an element adjustable into parallelism with the guns bore and around which said support oscillates, and a counterpoise-weight for the support.

6. In a sighting apparatus for guns, a fore sight, a rear sight, a support on which said rear sight is adjustable laterally with refer ence to the fore sight, an element adjustable into parallelism with the guns bore, means for adjusting the same, and a counterpoiseweight acting to automatically oscillate said support around said element as an axis.

7. In a sighting apparatus for guns, a fore sight, a rear sight, a support for the rear sight, an element adjustable into parallelism with the guns bore and about which said support oscillates as an axis, means for relatively adjusting said support and element in a vertical plane, means for adjusting the element into parallelism with the guns bore, and a counterpoise for said support.

8. In sighting apparatus for guns, a fore sight stationary relatively to the axial line of the gun-trunnions, a rear sight, a support on which the rear sight is laterally adjustable,

an axis parallel to the axis of the gun on which said support is adapted to oscillate, means for adjusting the support and axis relatively to each other, means for adjusting the axis to bring it into parallelism with the axis of the gun, and a counterpoise for the support.

9. In sighting apparatus for guns, a pivoted frame, an axis supported by the frame, adjusting means forv moving the frame on its pivot to bring the axis into parallelism with the axis of the gun, a platform-support mounted to oscillate about the axis, a platform pivotally mounted on-the platform support, means for adjusting the platform on its pivot, a fore sight stationary relatively to the axial line of the gun, a rear sight mounted on the platform, and a counterpoise on the platformsupport.

10. In' sighting apparatus for guns, a pivoted frame the axis of the pivot being in alinement with the axis of the gun-trunnions, a sight-axis supported by the frame and perpendicular to the'axis of the gun-trunnions, adjusting means for moving the frame on'its pivot to bring the sight-axis into parellelism with the axis of the gun, a platform-support mounted to oscillate about the sight-axis, a platform pivoted to the platform-support the axis of the pivot being in line with the axis of the gun-trunnions, means for adjusting the platform on its pivot, a fore sight sta* tionary relatively to the axial line of the gun, a rear sight mounted on the platform, and a counterpoise on the platform-support.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES PROSPER. EUGENE SCHNEIDER. JEAN BAPTISTE GUSTAVE ADOLPHE OANET.

Witnesses:

JEAN GAMET, ERNEST PALOT. 

